


Paying Respects

by YappiChick



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Goodbyes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-07
Updated: 2014-03-07
Packaged: 2018-01-14 22:59:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1281904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YappiChick/pseuds/YappiChick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Less than a day after the doctor had been buried, Steve stood in front of the non-descript stone to say his goodbye.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Paying Respects

**Author's Note:**

> Some random scene that happens after Senator Brant taking poor ol' Steve under his wing and before Captain America's first performance.

It seemed wrong to Steve that Doctor Erskine wasn’t allowed to have any sort of memorial service, but Phillips had insisted that for that sake of national security, the less attention that was brought to Erskine, the better.

So, the doctor was buried among the hundred of thousands of people in Calvary Cemetery without one person there to pay their respects as his body was put into the ground. The only memorial of him was a plain tombstone that blended in with all the others around it.

Less than a day after the doctor had been buried, Steve stood in front of the non-descript stone to say his goodbye. 

This was far from the first time that Steve had ever been in a cemetery; each year, on the dates of their births and deaths, Steve visited his parents’ graves. Sadness and loneliness were his companions each time he stepped onto the sacred grounds, but today there was another feeling that accompanied Steve.

Guilt. 

He knew logically that he wasn’t responsible for the death of the one man in the world who believed in him, but he wrestled with his thoughts each night, wondering what he could have done differently to save the doctor. 

He stood there in front of Erskine’s tomb, arms behind his back and head bowed. He never had a chance to thank the doctor for what he had done, to thank him for giving him a chance to do something more than just wait around for the war to be over.

“I didn’t expect to see you here.”

Steve had been so wrapped up in his thoughts, he hadn’t heard anyone approaching. But, after she spoke, Steve knew exactly who was standing behind him

Agent Carter.

He spun around to face her. In her hand was a red poppy. She stepped forward and placed it on the tombstone. She closed her eyes for a second before looking back at Steve. “We’re leaving this evening, but I couldn’t go without paying my respects.”

Leaving for Europe. To take down Schmidt and Hydra. He should be going with them. “There isn’t any chance that Phillips changed his mind, is there?”

She opened her mouth before pressing her lips together. “Do you mind if we go for a stroll?” Steve didn’t miss a sideways glance at another man who was about twenty feet from where they stood. 

“Sure.”

She surprised him by looping her arm through his and leading them out of the cemetery. Once they were on the sidewalk, she leaned into him, “That man has been watching you for nearly a half hour.”

He tried to look backwards, but she kept pulling him forward. “Really? How did you know?”

“Since your transformation, Phillips thought it’s be best to have some people keeping tabs on you. Your success has garnered the interest of a lot of people. Not all of them are happy about it.” She turned a corner and kept their pace brisk.

He looked at the street around them. It was mostly empty, but several people were scattered around: a taxi driver staring blankly at the road ahead as he waited for a customer, a woman sitting in a passenger seat of another car smacking her chewing gum, a man reading a newspaper on a bench. Were they all watching him?

“One of our operatives recognized the man at the cemetery as a Nazi sympathizer,” she continued.

“Do you think he was after me?” Steve didn’t want to get too overconfident after what the serum had done to his body, but he didn’t think that man posed much of a threat.

“I don’t know, but when we were contacted I thought it was best for me to check it out since we were already in New York.” She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “Colonel Phillips may not be impressed with the success of Doctor Erskine’s work, but he doesn’t speak for the entirety of the SSR, Private Rogers.”

“Steve,” he corrected without thinking. It seemed strange for someone to address him with his rank outside of the confines of a military installation.

She pulled away and looked at him with a confused look. Immediately, he wondered if he crossed some line. 

“I’m just saying that after everything we’ve been through with Erskine and this,” he pointed to his body, “you can call me by my first name. If you want. But you don’t have to. I mean, Private Rogers is fine.” 

Her eyebrow quirked up. “Still working on your ability to speak to a woman, I see.”

A frustrated breath passed through his lips. Why couldn’t he ever have a normal conversation with Agent Carter? “Too bad that didn’t improve with the serum.”

She started walking them down the street again. This time Steve could almost feel the pairs of eyes following the two of them. “Peggy.”

“Who’s Peggy?” Was that one of the people watching them?

“Me.” She flashed him a smile. “I figured I could at least return the favor.”

Peggy. Steve rolled the name in his head. It seemed so strange to think of her as anything other than Agent Carter.

As they walked past a group of kids playing baseball in the street, her pace slowed but she didn’t let go of his arm. Whatever danger worried her was still a threat.

It wasn’t until they turned down an average-looking alleyway that he felt her relax. “Promise me something,” she said. 

“Anything.” He winced, hoping that it didn’t sound as desperate as it sounded, but knew that it probably did.

“Remember who you are, no matter what.” She stopped and pulled her arm away. “Don’t allow Brant to mold you into something you’re not.”

“Senator Brant wants what’s best for America. I can’t do anything less for my country either.”

She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. In fact, she looked almost discouraged. “Do you promise, Steve?”

Hearing his name from her was just about as wonderful as he imagined. He doubted there was anything he wouldn’t do for her, but even he, with his inability to talk to a woman, knew not to say that out loud. Instead, he nodded. “Yeah, I promise.”

“Good.” 

They walked further down the alley. Then, she stopped in front of a black car with a driver waiting inside. “This car will take you to Grand Central Station. Senator Brant and his aide will be waiting for you there.”

“What about you?” His gentlemanly upbringing couldn’t leave a woman alone on the streets of New York, not even one as capable as Peggy. 

“You don’t have to worry about me, Steve. I can take care of myself.” She drew a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. “Well, then, I guess this is goodbye.”

He frowned. “I’m not, uh, really a fan of goodbyes, actually. I’m more of a ‘see you later’ kind of person.” 

A soft smile passed over her lips. “So am I.” She leaned forward and pressed her lips against his cheek. “Until we meet again, then.”

Steve was pretty sure he was blushing. No, he _knew_ he was. 

He probably should have done something else than what he was currently doing, namely, standing with his mouth agape. But, Peggy didn’t seem to mind. In fact, there was a smile on her face as he turned towards the car.

He opened the back door before facing her again. “I’ll see you soon, Peggy.” Even though he didn’t know if they would ever meet again, he wanted an excuse to say her name, just once. 

“I hope you’re right, Steve.”

So did he.


End file.
